^ agree ben. he wasn’t leading in the 5th set when his opponent retired. but he still gets the “w” so it counts as one of the comebacks none the less. it’s just a weird one.

also who is “Sargis Sargsian?” i was watching tennis back then but have no recollection of this player. that looks like the most competitive of fed’s comebacks actually. in most of the others the final set was a formality.

it’s interesting how players often give up and/or find strength in a fifth set.

the best 5 setters – often but not always (e.g., the dreaded isner/mahut) – are the ones that end by a hair. nole/stan at ao 2013, fed/rafa wimbledon 08, rafa/nole ao 2012 & fo 2013, andy/nole ao 2012, stan/kei here, etc…

otherwise the end of a 5 set match can feel like an anticlimax. still i love 5 setters!

Giles would not be Giles if he didn’t put an anti-Federer slant to any news. I have come to expect that from him. I admire his consistency, though, and I do find a great deal of humor in his posts that they make me smile instead of getting angry.

Re; Giles
I laugh at its consistent desperation! The rafafanatic club is all but gone. Tells a story no? Its Rafa or nothing. Maybe my comment here will bring them out. It usually works ;).
“Love never felt so good”.

Disclaimer; There are some great Rafans who hang here imo, they know who they are.

It’s really hard to figure Fed out…….He doesn’t even sweat, for crying out loud! As I said on the other thread, he put the 5 setter scenario to rest. Yeah, he looked great!! Who is your pick? I was going for Novak, but not so sure now…..

@Okiegal
I am in record that Nole is the fav here. No reason to think otherwise, his HC record overall the last few years shows it. He’s been to 8 semis @ USO.
Of course, then there is Fed. Still believe its on Feds racket however, even @ 33. The only times I have seen Fed seem helpless is when his opponet overpowers him. Cilic has the tools to do that. We’ll see….. ;)

@Skeezer, thanks for your sweet comment, I have been so tore up today over a comment I should have kept to myself. I feel awful. Yes, I used to get insulted because I hardly ever got any responses…..won’t worry about that ever again. I was popular in school too….got the award for “All Around Girl” everyone wanted it……that was a great award….. Don’t much care for being popular on TX…it sucks! It’s like the can of worms I opened up about deer hunting. Learned a lesson about that too. It’s been a bummer of a day. But it has been a life’s lesson.

I think it will be a tall order if it’s between Fed and Novak, but Roger wants it bad, like he has something to prove, which I really don’t think he does, if he retires next week he’s done it all!

I do love tennis and I have watched all week long. Yes, I miss Rafa, but tennis marches on with or w/o our favs!

Nadal’s numbers are less impressive when you realize he takes months/years off at a time due to “injury” in order to avoid losing to players, whereas someone like Federer plays through it and takes his losses despite not playing his best. If Nadal were a man and did the same, he record would not be as pristine.

Jane: Sargisian was an Armenian player, who I believe spent a lot of formative years in the US – I think he may have been a Bolletieri guy. He won Newport one year, but I think most of his success came in doubles.

Any easy 5th set can also mean that Federer has figured out an opponent who has no plan B. For example, Granollers started out like a house on fire isolating Federer’s backhand and then running around the backhand and stepping in to take it on the rise.

It worked for a set because Federer kept coming over the backhand, putting the ball right in Granoller’s strike zone. But Granollers has an extreme grip on the forehand, so Federer started to slice deep to Granollers backhand. Since Granollers has no plan B, and kept running around the backhand, he would loft topspin forehands into the backhand corner, which Federer promptly ran around and pummelled for the next 3 sets.

It’s one thing to give up when you’ve got a chance to win (like Monfils) but if your opponent adjusts and you keep doing the same, you’ll get a score that looks like you gave up when in fact you just had no asnwers.

Sure, maybe Monfils wavered mentally a bit in the fifth. But before that he was burning tons of energy trying to run down Federer’s shots. He grunted noticeably louder in the fourth set, he was really muscling his strokes and trying to keep the ball deep, and hitting huge serves. All to try to stave off Federer, who was playing better and better as the match went on.

After all, Monfils drinks Coke during matches instead of coconut water or whatever electrolyte-replenishing superelixir most top athletes would use. Not exactly sound fitness advice. It’s hardly shocking that he might have a physical letdown in the fifth set.

As he said, it was five bad minutes that cost him the fifth set. Federer knew what to do, pounced in the opening game, got the early break, held, and from there it was a long way back for Le Monf.

You can say Monfils gave up, or you can say it was the body’s natural reaction to overexerting himself beyond his limits. It took everything he had to get Federer to match point. Federer simply had too much for him on those points–he produced a great volley and an even better forehand to save them.

Once Federer held, Monfils’ chance had gone and then Federer was there to take advantage of the inevitable lapse.

Regarding coke (the drinking kind…LOL) I had a weight loss specialist tell me that a coke would go to your blood stream quicker
than anything, I guess because it’s chock full of sugar and caffeine, I think it gives an extra added boost of energy, maybe?? My Aunt was a girl’s basketball coach and she had them eat Hershey bar before every…..I wish she had been my coach…..a coke and a candy bar…..I could work with that! Lol

Coke and sugar give an immediate boost but don’t know effects long term in the match. Didn’t know that about Monfils.
Also coke has a lot of salt which is never good fir players who are losing liquids a lot during match, it affects the hydro balance.

Hard to decide whether Fed’s most dramatic comeback was against Monfils or Haas. Against Monfils he had to save 2 match points, but his match against Haas was probably more important in the grand scheme of GOATdom. I remember that Fed was down 2 sets and a break point when he started his comeback against Haas. He hit an amazing cross court forehand that struck the line. Had he lost that point, Haas would have served for the match and chances are that Fed would never have gotten the career slam.